Almost every day this year children in the small town of Guadalupe, Honduras put on their white and blue school uniforms and walked to school, only to find the classroom door locked, and no teacher in sight. The teacher, who was supposed to be imparting valuable lessons on reading and writing to first through third graders hardly ever showed up for class, and when she did, she was often drunk. Frustrated, the parents in the town tried talking to the head of the school district, but he refused to listen.
Students In Guadalupe Have A Teacher Again
October 29, 2011
Unfortunately, this problem is quite common in Honduras. An Association for a More Just Society (ASJ, formerly known as AJS) study from 2010 indicated that 27% of teachers on the public school payroll were not in the classroom. But, ASJ is working hard to change this situation, and when the exasperated parents didn’t receive any answer from the school district, they knew they could go to an ASJ community worker for help.
The community worker connected the parents with lawyers from ASJ’s Advocacy and Legal Advice Center (ALAC). The ASJ lawyers presented a report on the case to national public education authorities, who responded almost immediately by traveling to the school to do an inspection. At the inspection, the parents’ accusations were proven—the teacher was nowhere to be found.
After this discovery, as dictated by law, the teacher was summoned to a disciplinary hearing. When she didn’t attend the disciplinary hearing, the education authorities started the process to fire her.
In addition, education authorities are waiting for a report from the head of the school district as to why he didn’t take action at the local level. If he does not respond, he will be subjected to a disciplinary hearing as well.
ALAC lawyers note that the children in Guadalupe are now back in school with a new teacher, and ALAC coordinator Ludim Ayala says with satisfaction, “Children have a right to receive a quality education from a qualified teacher. We are pleased to be able to help the education authorities make this happen by rooting out corruption and negligence in Honduran public schools.”
Thank You for Moving Forward With Us this Summer!
When Policies Shift, Families Pay the Price * by Jo Ann Van Engen
Inspiring civil society in the US with a vision of a more just society
Dear Friend, On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of Hondurans flooded their streets with prayer and peaceful demonstration. Reports from our team members who attended said it was like an inspirational sea of people all wanting the same thing for their country: peace. One of our ASJ-US colleagues said he walked past Pentecostals dancing and playing music, a woman praying the rosary, nuns walking, and priests and altar boys in full robes–all walking in the same space together for peace.
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